Last Dance
by Hardyzschic
Summary: Jeff Hardy reflects on two Swantons that have changed his life forever. The first being his favorite, the second being his last....


Last Dance  
By:Hardyzschic  
  
As I sit here and watch the guys preparing for their first match with Omega, I am overcome with memories. The adrenaline rush of performing before your first live audience is unbelievable. There's always a case of nerves that follows with it too. You have this overwhelming desire to do your very best. You want to prove that you can perform when it counts, while all along you are scared to death that you are about to fail miserably.  
It wasn't that long ago that I was standing where they are now. I remember being in my first hard ring, looking across at my brother thinking are we really going to do this? Matt was bouncing up and down still psyching himself up for the match. I knew he was already to give the performance of a lifetime though. He was meant for this, wrestling was in his blood. It was all he ever talked about, watched and studied. He was a good student and a terrific athlete, but none of that mattered to him much. Wrestling was his life.  
Don't get me wrong, I love wrestling too. Matt was the one who showed me my first wrestling match, its actually one of the first television shows I remember watching and I was hooked from the start. When I was 10 and Matt was 13 our dad gave us a trampoline for Christmas, and I guess in a sense that was the beginning of it all. Matt and I transformed the ring into a makeshift ring and that's when the Federation of Teenagers was born. We've come a long way since then though, and we had a lot more we could have done, but time has a way of changing your priorities, I guess.   
From the Federation of the Teenagers Matt began Omega, which was a real indy federation. That was probably one of the most important learning experiences in our lives. Through Omega, Matt learned the ins and outs of the behind the stage working of a federation. He learned to be a booker as well as a wrestler. I just did what I usually did; I just followed my big brother and did what he told me to do.  
It was not long after that we got a developmental deal with the World Wrestling Federation. I think it was one of the proudest moments in Matt's life. I can still remember the excitement in his voice as he called Dad to tell him that we had just signed our first professional contracts. Matt didn't quit smiling for days; but then again we were living our dreams. I was excited too, I mean we had a shot at being WWF superstars, but it was the smile on Matt's face that is permanently etched in my memory.  
Before you know it we had hit it big in the WWF. Trust me, I'm not bragging but after a series of matches with our friends Adam and Jason, people suddenly begin to notice who we were. The first time someone asked me for my autograph, I looked behind me. I was sure one of the real "stars" was there and she was talking to them. Seeing no one there I realized that this girl was talking to me. Someone actually wanted Jeff Hardy's autograph. I was flattered, but more than that I was stunned. After we won the tag belts a couple of times it got to everywhere we went people wanted to talk to us, get us to sign something and pose with them. I tried never to turn anyone away, because I knew it was the fact that the fans stayed behind us that was part of what got us where we were. We would have been nothing without our fans.  
The sound of one of the kids hitting the canvas brought me out of my thoughts and back to reality. He had apparently taken a really hard bump and was still lying prone on the canvas. His practice opponent, stood poised and ready to fly from the top turnbuckle. He stretched his arms out and launched into his own version of the move that I made famous, or should I say the move that would make me famous. The kid hit the Swanton beautifully and looked over at me for approval, but by that time I never noticed his glance, I was deep in thought again.  
I couldn't count the number of Swantons I had landed in my career but two will stand forever etched in my mind. The first is my favorite one; it was at Wrestlemania 16. We had set up this huge ladder in the entranceway to the ring and I had my opponent positioned on a table at the bottom of the ladder. I had taken some pretty hard bumps in the match that night and I was ready to get it over with and get back to the hotel. I swear the ladder looked 50 feet high, but in fact it was only 12. I remember thinking as I was climbing, man I must be out of my mind. When I considered the rush I was going to get and the response from the crowd, I kept right on climbing. I was determined to steal the show. The ladder was shaky but I managed to stand on it. I was seriously afraid it was going to fall out from under me so instead of jumping off of it I decided to kinda fall off and into a Swanton. I stood there for a moment first savoring the feeling. It was nothing short of awesome. It was my debut Wrestlemania, and for that moment all eyes were on me. There were camera flashes going off everywhere. I looked at Matt who was fighting another opponent in the ring. He seemed to feel my glance, because he returned my gaze then and smiled. I took a deep breath and went for it. Flying through the air, hearing the screaming crowd all around me I knew that this was what I was meant to do. I overshot it a little however, and landed with my upper torso on my opponent, but I drove my heels and butt into the floor. I didn't even think that I broke the table but I looked back to see that I had. I hurt so bad the next morning I could barely walk but its like I always say, it's the extreme that makes a lasting impression. That match was later voted Match of the Year.  
The other Swanton I will always remember happened a little over a year ago. I can't honestly say that I remember the Swanton, but I do remember the landing. We were wrestling Adam and Jason, in a regular match, and at the moment Matt and I had the upper hand. I was in the ring with Jason and I had him laid out perfectly for the Swanton, or at least that's what Matt tells me. I don't remember the match or the Swanton. I just remember waking up in the ring a few moments later and feeling this extreme heaviness in my legs. Everyone was around me and Matt was telling me not to move. I knew that something was wrong and I tried to get up, but as hard as I tried I couldn't get anywhere. Matt held my shoulders down and the paramedics flooded the ring.  
My heart was pounding in my chest and the heaviness in my legs wouldn't go away. They loaded me on to a stretcher then and took me to the back and the ambulance that was waiting. Matt rode in the ambulance with me. I looked at him once while we were on the way to the hospital. I was hoping to find the reassurance that my big brother always seemed to be able to give. But what I saw scared me even more. Matt had his arms propped on his knees, his head was resting in his hands, and his shoulders were shaking. Matt was crying and seeing that made me more scared than ever, because Matt hardly ever cried. That was a year ago though.  
Matt's voice brought me back to reality then, pulling me away from reliving my own personal nightmare. "You ready to go Rainbow" he asked, punching me lightly on the arm. "I guess so," I said with a smile, but then I smirked thoughtfully. "What's wrong?" he asked quizzically. "Nothing" I replied "you just better warn that daredevil in the ring just how dangerous a Swanton can be." "Trust me" he said, with a sad smile "I warn everyone of them that I train." Matt grabbed the handles of my chair then and began to push me up the ramp towards the exit. You see the reason that I remember that last Swanton is because it's the one that broke my back and put me in this chair. It's the reason doctors say I will never walk again. It's the move that made me famous, but snatched away my dreams in the process.  



End file.
